FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A year ago, Arkansas beat Mississippi State to break what had become an embarrassingly long SEC losing streak. This time around, a similar assignment in Fayetteville, as the Razorbacks hosted the Bulldogs looking to break a much shorter SEC losing streak.
From the start, it was clear Kendall Briles and the Arkansas offense were ready to try something different. The opening drive featured Treylon Burks throwing the ball, narrowly missing a touchdown toss.
Two drives and a Cam Little field goal later, Arkansas went back to the trickery. Some backfield misdirection sprung Burks for a 25 yard run, then De'Vion Warren barely missed Burks for a touchdown on a double pass. Not to fear, Dominique Johnson finished the drive with a short TD run for a 10-0. Arkansas lead.
A reader with a keen eye will notice that it's taken until the fourth paragraph to mention the vaunted Mike Leach Air Raid offense, lead by the more than capable Will Rogers at quarterback. That's because, from the start, Barry Odom and the Arkansas defense seemed to have the Bulldogs figured out, once again.
The Hogs pitched a shutout in the first quarter, and kept coming up with answers. Mississippi State's first drive of the second dared to enter Arkansas territory, and Grant Morgan quickly squashed that nonsense with an interception. When the Bulldogs managed to get inside the ten, the Ho defense forced a short field goal attempt, which Mississippi State had no choice but to miss, out of respect for the effort.
Cam Little had no such qualms, drilling a 48-yard field goal to put Arkansas up 13-0 with 3:21 to play in the half. The Bulldogs went drive again, and this time, would not come away empty handed. Arkansas made an interception in the end zone, but it was waived off, and Mississippi State scored a play later to make it 13-7 heading in to the locker room.
Mississippi State got the ball to start the second half, and methodically drive for a touchdown, picking up a crucial 4th and 3 along the way. Extra point gave the Bulldogs the lead, 14-13.
The Hogs and Bulldogs went back and forth continuously for the remainder of the matchup until the Razorbacks eventually went down the field to answer back, defeating Mississippi State 31-28.